Inside a certain train.
A girl with dark green hair sat by the bed, sipping boxed pure milk through a straw.
Another pink-haired girl had just finished her lunch and was leaning against the wall, fiddling with the System Interface.
Suddenly, a look of pure disbelief washed over her face.
“Fufu, what are you looking at?”
Seeing her friend suddenly staring blankly at the System Interface, Mocha stood up and walked over to see what was going on.
“That watch… a buyer applied for a private chat friend request,” Tang Shifu explained, snapping out of her daze.
“Did you get scolded? I told you, listing a watch for a hundred kilograms of iron and leaving a private chat code is just asking for it…”
“No…”
“Is it someone trying to hit on you after seeing your avatar?”
“No, that’s not it either. Oh, just look!”
Tang Shifu said urgently, turning the System Interface around so Mocha could see the avatar displayed on the private chat screen.
Mocha leaned in curiously, and her pupils instantly constricted.
In the personal data designated by The System, her and Tang Shifu’s Charm Value were definitely at the top tier.
Before entering The Train, they hadn’t lived together for long, but they were well-acquainted and had developed a certain level of immunity to good looks.
After all, no matter how beautiful a girl was, it was impossible for her to have a higher Charm Value than the two of them…
Therefore, Mocha didn’t think she could ever be blown away by someone’s appearance.
But at this moment, she felt her sense of aesthetics being completely overturned.
In the past, she thought being “pretty” just meant looking good, but now Mocha suddenly realized that being “cute” could also be this charming.
Even as a girl herself, she felt a sensation like her heart had been struck at that instant.
Cream-colored long hair cascaded over the shoulders in slight waves.
Her features were so exquisite they felt surreal due to their lack of flaws.
Her purple eyes were crystal clear, like shimmering gemstones, and her pupils radiated a mature calmness.
This created a wonderful contrast with her fragile, almost childlike facial features.
Where did this little cupcake come from?
I really want to keep her… no, I want to pull her into my arms and protect her like a big sister.
“Hey… what’s with that expression? It’s gross.”
Tang Shifu felt a sudden chill and quickly pulled the System Interface back.
“Hmph, what about the look on your face just now?”
Mocha snapped back, annoyed.
“I just didn’t expect someone to be better looking than you,” Tang Shifu said, her lip twitching.
She had to admit that even Mocha’s current blushing face would probably be considered extremely “charming” in some people’s eyes—in fact, Mocha’s charm in that specific department was even greater than her own.
There was no helping it; she didn’t exactly have a very girly personality herself.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Mocha snorted.
Tang Shifu was stunned for a moment.
She knew her friend’s personality all too well.
In Mocha’s eyes, no one’s appearance could compare to her own, even if she herself was only “not inferior” to her.
And just now, she didn’t even argue?
***
On Mubai’s side, the friend request had been sent, but there was a long wait for a reply.
Just as she was about to close the System Interface, the other party finally accepted the application, and a private message immediately popped up.
Tang Shifu: [Hello, hello. You’re here for the watch, right?]
Tang Shifu: [Eh, wait a second. How is your train already Level 1?]
Mubai: [Aren’t you Level 1 too?]
Tang Shifu: [That’s different, okay… my teammate and I put in a lot of hard work to achieve that!]
Mubai: [My teammate and I are the same.]
Tang Shifu: […]
Mubai: [Tell me what you want. Just a heads up, I’m no pushover. I can only give you a certain amount of food or upgrade resources. If you want appliances, I have those too. Since you’re already a Level 1 train, you should have a Power System by now.]
Tang Shifu: [Yeah, yeah. I don’t have any special requirements. I need 40 kilograms of iron to build a bathroom or washroom. If that’s not enough, we can trade the difference for an equivalent amount of cooked meat with fat. Ideally with some salt too.]
Mubai: [You should know that a watch isn’t worth that much, right?]
Tang Shifu: [I can include a Special Dagger as a bonus. This dagger is different; it has very high durability.]
Mubai: [I’ll think about it.]
A dagger was also a relatively important self-defense weapon at the moment, though not as versatile as an axe.
On the market, it was probably worth two days’ worth of food.
But even if two daggers were added together, they certainly weren’t worth 40 kilograms of iron.
“Yeyuan, do you need a dagger? Which feels more comfortable to use compared to the axe?”
Mubai turned to look at Yeyuan and asked.
“I need one. What’s the price?”
Yeyuan answered succinctly.
A dagger wasn’t as useful as an axe for most tasks, but it was better suited for close-quarters combat.
If things hadn’t reached the point of a brawl… why would she bother controlling the distance to swing an axe when she could just one-shot the opponent with a crossbow bolt?
“The other party wants to trade a dagger and a watch for 40 kilograms of iron. I mainly want the watch,” Mubai explained her thoughts.
A watch was something that was truly useful if you had it.
With it, one could avoid losing track of time and getting left behind at a Station.
However, it indeed wasn’t as helpful for survival as tangible tools and weapons.
Its value was hard to estimate.
So, Mubai wanted to hear Yeyuan’s opinion.
“I think it’s fine. You decide,” Yeyuan approved of the trade.
Since that was the case, Mubai no longer hesitated.
She took out 40 kilograms of iron from the Material Stacking Area and continued the private chat with Tang Shifu.
Mubai: [I have enough iron here. How do we trade?]
Tang Shifu: [List the 40 kilograms of iron on the market in two batches. Set one to trade for the watch and the other for the dagger. The Train time is the same as Earth time, and I’ve already calibrated the watch, so there’s no need to adjust it.]
Mubai: [Ok]
Mubai didn’t set it to a direct trade like before.
Instead, she configured it so that the other party’s trade items had to show a detailed description after system verification.
She would only complete the transaction after confirming it herself.
Soon, two trade requests appeared on the touch screen.
The watch was fine; it was an intact mechanical watch.
After confirming the trade, a delicate lady’s mechanical watch was teleported over.
One could faintly see traces of use on the white leather strap; it was a personal item in every sense of the word.
The case was made of smooth, dull gold metal, and the dial was a clean moon-white color.
On it, a four-colored butterfly was rendered using special stones of different colors but the same texture.
Pink, white, blue, and grey—they reflected light at different angles as if the butterfly were fluttering.
The gold and silver hands ticked away, making a faint sound.
It looked almost like an expensive piece of art.
As for the dagger…
[A dagger forged from a special metal. It truly cuts through iron like butter, but it was originally part of a pair of twin daggers.]
So, the person on the other side had split a pair of daggers and sold her one.
Still, they hadn’t lied to her; the material was indeed extraordinary.
“Chacha, the trade was a success! We’ll have infinite water from now on,” Tang Shifu said excitedly.
The reason she wanted to trade both items together was because neither would have fetched 40 kilograms of iron on its own.
Right now, most players were still in the food shortage stage, and 40 kilograms of iron was very close to the amount needed for an upgrade.
For the vast majority of players, the value of iron was extremely high.
But there would always be some who didn’t care as much about iron as an upgrade material anymore.
Just like she didn’t care about that dagger.
And these types of people would have definitely already passed the most difficult survival period and would be attracted to the watch she listed on the market.
Even if this trade hadn’t succeeded, someone would have eventually agreed.
Mocha played with a nearly identical dagger and smiled.
“She didn’t lose out either, did she?”
“But we made a profit! With infinite water to trade for resources, we won’t lack anything!”